Geoffrey IV, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy from the house Gatinais. Geoffrey's habit of wearing a sprig of broom plant (latin: planta genesta) on his hat is the origin of the name "Plantagenet." He succeeded his father Fulk V. "the young" as Count of Anjou, Maine and Touraine in 1128, when Fulk went to the Holy Land to marry Melisende, daughter of King Baldwin II. of Jerusalem. Geoffrey married Empress Maude, the widow of Emperor Heinrich V. and daughter of Henry I. of England two years later. The marriage was pretty unhappy, partly because Maude felt humiliated that she, a empress, was married to a mere count. Their first son, Henry, was born five years after the wedding. Two more sons, Geoffrey and Guillaume followed in the next three years. He fought against King Stephen and conquered the Normandy from him and was from 1144 on Duke of Normandy. Geoffrey and Henry went to Paris to pledge their alliance to their liege King Louis VII. in 1151. There, Henry met the Queen Eleonore for the first time, and apparently fell in love, which would later result in one of the biggest scandals of their time. During the return to his county he became sick, with high fever and died 25 miles southeast of Le Mans. (bio by: Lutetia)